Perfecting Love
by Julia Bartlett
Summary: Rose is back at the Academy after her journey to Russia, but she doesn’t receive the package from Dimitri like in the book. Honoring her promise to Adrian, she gives him a chance, and their relationship kicks off, but someone gets jealous...


(A/N: This takes place after Rose gets back from Russia, but she doesn't receive the package from Dimitri like in the book. Characters may seem OOC at any point or throughout the entire story, but it's my story, so I can do that. Reviews would be fantastic, and criticism is welcome! However, if you're only going to say it sucks please just don't be mean about it or I'll probably cry! Now that's out of the way; I promise I'll be more fun and nice in future author's notes. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!)

Disclaimer: Characters and everything from the books belong to the wonderful Richelle Mead, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1

I looked down at the folded piece of paper I held in my hands. "_Rosemarie_" adorned the front in neat cursive handwriting.

_He must have tried really hard to get it that neat_, I thought, remembering how difficult it was to decipher the phone message Adrian had written down for me a few days earlier.

Moments before, I had answered a knock at the door to find Adrian outside my dorm room. This was a surprise because I hadn't seen him much the previous two days; I just figured he'd been put off by the "assignment" I'd given him and decided to give up on me. (I'd hoped that wasn't the case as I'd grown fond of the thought of Adrian and me. I was still far from being over Dimitri, but I knew I needed to move on nonetheless.)

"Funny…I don't remember ordering any drunken strippers from room service," I said with a smile. I hoped I didn't look too horrible since I'd just woken up.

"Good morning to you too, Rose. You're looking as beautiful as ever," he said with care in his voice and warmth in his eyes that showed he was genuinely feeling something for me and knew I was joking about the drunken stripper comment.

"Unfortunately, I can't stay long. I just needed to give you this and be on my way; I've got something I need to take care of." With that, he gave me the note, cupped my hands in his, and looked me in the eyes with such sweet compassion. "And I'm not drunk; I haven't had a drink in almost two days." And I knew he was serious. Plus, he didn't smell like alcohol which was nice.

After a few precious seconds, he let go, said goodbye, and walked out of my room closing the door behind him.

Now, my heard fluttered as I began to open the note. I was surprised at just how nervous I really was. It kind of reminded me of Dimitri.

_Dimitri…_

No. Dimitri was dead and I had to remember that. I needed to move on.

_Here goes nothing… _I thought as I opened the note and began to read:

Rose,

What can I say? You've intrigued me since the day we met. You're beautiful, caring, and strong-willed, and I hope you can see past my wonderfully gorgeous exterior to get to know me—really know me—as a person. I know you've been through some rough times lately, and I want to be there for you now and if things get rough again. Plus, if we were together, you could keep me sane amidst all the crazy that spirit doles out—I wouldn't need the alcohol if I had you, my beautiful Rose. So I really want to

Here, I turned the paper over to read on, but there was nothing on the back and there were no additional pages.

_Want to…? Want to what??_

If I hurried, I figured I could still catch him before he got too far from the buildings, so I quickly slipped on some shoes and opened the door only to find Adrian leaning coolly against the wall opposite my room.

Needless to say, I was shocked. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but before I could, he cleared the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me.

"Kiss you," he said. "I want to kiss you."

He lowered his lips to meet mine, and while it wasn't electric like Dimitri's had been, there was definitely something in that kiss. It was soft and gentle and really not what I expected, but it was amazing. I had kissed Adrian before under the influence of his compulsion to prove a point to myself, but this was different. I guess things changed when real feelings were involved.

We parted lips, but he still held me in his arms. "That was risky. You could have been waiting quite some time had I not decided to come after you right away," I said.

He smiled, "For you, I would have waited forever."

"I thought you had something to take care of?"

"You're the only thing I want to ever take care of." He said with all seriousness.

And I believed him. I raised my lips to meet his which I could tell surprised him momentarily.

"So, Rosemarie Hathaway, would you accompany me to differ this afternoon?" He asked in his best gentleman's voice.

"As long as you just call me Rose from now on…No more Rosemarie or Little Dhampir," I said, smiling.

He hugged me, and I realized that I was feeling happier than I had been in a while.

(A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter! It turned out a lot better than I expected it to. Please review and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is appreciated, but try not to be flat out mean. *Sad Puppy Face* … Did it work? :D No? Darn. I never was good at the sad puppy thing. Oh well. Thanks!)


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